Well, I made it! I cannot believe the amazing journey it was to get here. I am still frankly dazed and stunned at how quickly and smoothly it all went. I had an outpouring of love and support that was unprecedented. I feel so inadequate as to describe all the service that went into getting us to Texas. God has blessed us so much with wonderful family and friends. My children and I arrived at our new home two days before Thanksgiving.

My dearest friend Leena drove with us all the way to Texas from Utah. We could not have made it here as easily as we did without her. She drove the entire time, while I helped the children to survive the long drive. She says she got the easy job, but I know it was not easy for her to leave her beautiful family for a week and a half and work from morning until evening every day trying to help me get the house set up. Thank you Leena, Adam, Jaron, Natasha, Daniel, Andrew, Paxton, Batya, and Rebeccah.

Thank you to all of you that sacrificed so much to get my family here. Thank you Adam and Brian for packing the moving van, everything got through just fine! You are awesome! Thank you Maria & Russell, Aubria, Dad, Tara & Brian, Matthew, Tim, Heather, Daniel, Andrew, Paxton, Jaron, Adam, Leena, Mom & Dad, Jessica, Heather & Matt, Mom(Debbie), Dad(Keith), Suzy, Natalie, Josh, Jacob, Natasha, Natasha’s friend, Aunt Peggy & Uncle Brian, Laura, Robert & Cheryl, Regina, Karen, Andy, LaDawn, Tiffany, and April who helped pack boxes, load boxes, bring meals, watch children, clean, and were a shoulder to cry on and a big hug. Thank you to all of you who kept us in your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you seems so inadequate and such a simple thing to say after the great love and service I received. Many of you took several days off of work and/or school. All of you sacrificed other things that needed to be done in your own lives to do something for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I cannot thank you enough. I pray your service will be returned to you in a time of need ten fold. Thank you!

We were invited by a member of our new Taylor ward to Thanksgiving dinner. Wow, thank you Erin and Joey! I am so thankful that I didn’t have to eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving. With all of the unpacking and organizing of a new home I haven’t had much time for reflection, but tonight I have a little while. The children are sleeping, and Aaron is working late. I wanted to take a moment and record some of the things I am grateful for.

As I was catching up on e-mail and reading the updates on all of the family blog sites. I saw a common thread among them to which I would like to add my own. In my husbands family they have a tradition that we have continued in our own family. Every Thanksgiving before we partake of the food, we are given three candy corns. Each of the corns represents something we are grateful for. We then go around the table and express to the family the three things we are grateful for and there is not usually a dry eye in the house by the end. All of the other siblings have continued this tradition in their own families and have recorded their three corns in their blogs as well. I too would like to express my gratitude belated though it may be.

The first kernel of gratitude for me is gratitude for a Heavenly Father, who loves me so much. I am grateful for His spirit which guides me everyday. Especially I am grateful this year for all that he has guided and helped me through. From braking my leg to moving across the country and everything in between, I could not have made it through any of this without Gods loving hand guiding me every step of the way. I am grateful that he helps my weaknesses become strengths.

The second kernel of gratitude is family. My dearest husband and best friend who helps me through thick and thin. Aaron had to go through losing me for three month while I recovered from my massive ankle injury. He helped me bathe, eat, sleep and every other function during that difficult time in my life. He was so loving and understanding. When put into perspective, moving the family without him was maybe a way I could help him in a similar way he helped me. I am grateful that he is happier than I have seen him in a long time and it was so worth moving here to have him happy again! I am grateful for my dearest children who have been so brave and trusting to go on this adventure to Texas with their Mom and Dad. They have all worked so hard to help and be loving to each other. What a great blessing they are to me. I am also grateful for extended family. My parents who took in my children for ten days so that Aaron and I could find a home in Texas, to Aaron’s parents who did what they could to help us with our move. I am thankful for their moral support as well. I am grateful to have goodly parents. I am thankful for brothers and sisters, and the great examples I have of love and strength from my siblings and Aaron’s. That includes in-law siblings too!

My third kernel of gratitude is for friendship. The friends to which I refer are family to me. I am grateful that God gives us family, and that he gives us family by choice. Thank you my dear family by choice! I am grateful for the love and sacrifice of my dear friends who make me feel more loved then I know what to do with. Thank you for touching my life forever! I am so grateful for the amazing gifts you have given me like, crying on my shoulder and guitar strings. I am a better person because you are my friends.

There are so many blessings and gifts that I have been given this year that are to numerous to describe on one blog entry. I attempted to name the most important. Thank you for reading! Happy Belated Thanksgiving and if I don’t get a chance to write again before then, Merry Christmas too!

Filed under: Journal Entry

I am moving to Texas! My husband got a job offer from a company in Austin and we decided to take the job!

There have been so many miracles already as we have been preparing to move. For intstance our house is already under contract and all of the projects we need to finish are done. Wow!

Anyway, I am letting you know that if you don’t hear from me for a while it is because I will be extremely busy packing and moving! As I am sure you can guess that is a gigantic job when you have a large family. I look forward to posting more about our move!

Filed under: Announcements

As a mother and a home schooler I am always on the look out for educational opportunities and experiences for my children. As I have to study to be able to help them in their learning, I also gain new knowledge and insight. Most of the time and energy I have in my life is devoted to my family.

Six months ago I went to a Women’s Conference at BYU. I learned many things at that conference, but one of the main messages that I gleaned for my own personal growth was that in order to be a good wife and mother, I needed to take time for myself. Tonight I am taking my first photography class. I feel this is the first step towards me bettering myself and developing my own talents. I have always had an interest in photography. Learing about the things I am interested in and developing my talents is the best way for me to take time for myself.

I am a bit intimidated because I have no real experience in photograpy other than the shots I take of my family. At least I won’t be doing it alone. I am excited that I get to take this class with my sister-in-law Heather!

I will post some of my pictures if they turn out well! I hope they do!

Filed under: Journal Entry

I wanted to write down an experience I had recently. It was a miracle to me.

I had taken the children to visit my mother in Nevada last week. I wound up staying a few more days than I had planned, and I needed to wash some clothes for the children and me. Well, as it turned out there was a piece of gum left in the pocket of one of the pairs of pants I was washing. As I was pulling the laundry out of the dryer I noticed that the entire drum of the dryer was streaked with gum. My heart sank as I was absolutely sure the clothes has been ruined. I quickly started to fold the clothes, scanning them closely to see what the damage would be. As it turned out, not one article of clothing had gum on it. As you can imagine, trying to keep six children outfitted is expensive! What a relief that was! Even the pair of jeans that had the gum in the pocket came out unscathed. I was amazed! God knew we did not have the means to replace all that the dryer contained. Thus this was a miracle to me.

Later that evening as I was cleaning the dryer drum to get the gum off, I noticed that under one of the paddles was the majority of the gum. I shed tears of gratitude.

Motherhood is made up of these small miracles. I hope I appreciate them as they come.

Filed under: Journal Entry

There are some days as a mother that are really tough. I feel angry and frustrated at times. Today was one of those days. I am trying my best to be a good mother and speak positively to my children, but they really can push my buttons. I think they are born with that ability. I have been trying to teach my children to be respectful and that as their mother, and a person I need to be respected. It is a hard task. Hopefully my children will learn. I am respectful to my children and I expect the same. I hope they will be able to reciprocate some day.

If you have read my blog up to this point you know that I try to write positive things about mothering. Today is dedicated to all the hard days we have as mothers. All the days of teaching respect with respect. Thanks for reading, and if this note hits home with you, I hope that you have a better day after reading this and knowing that you are not alone. Keep moving forward!

Filed under: Journal Entry

Well, all but one of my tomato plants died, but the one that survived is doing quite well. Both of the blackberry bushes are still alive and we have two blackberries on one of them! Exciting!

Filed under: Journal Entry

The end of May is here and we are finished with the curriculum phase of school until Labor Day. In the summer we begin the “hands on” phase of home school. This year we decided to start a little garden. My children and I planted blackberries and we are getting ready to plant tomatoes. This is the first year that I have planted a garden myself. I helped my mom with our garden when I was growing up and I really enjoyed planting seeds and watching them grow. I guess it is about time for me to continue on the tradition so my children can have the same experience. I must say, it is quite enjoyable to be up a little after sunrise and be working out in the cool morning air! I feel quite invigorated!

Another wonderful thing about planting a garden with your children is that it gives me the opportunity to teach my children and show them the power of God. As we planted our blackberries I asked my son if he would say a prayer for them, and ask God to help them grow. My son said the sweetest prayer and I was so grateful for that opportunity. I was able to teach my children the importance of prayer, (Cry unto him when you are in your fields; Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Alma 34:20,24) and as those little blackberry bush plants grow, their faith will grow as well. Planting a garden is a wonderful way for children to see the miracles that God does for us every day. What a blessing! I am grateful for the opportunity to teach my children all of the really important things.

Filed under: Children, Journal Entry

The main focus of my website is motherhood, but I wanted to take a moment and recognize the importance of being a wife. In my invalid state I have come to see my husband in new light. He has shown me what unconditional sacrifice is, and how much love he has for his family.

My husband and I had five out of our six children in the seven years we had been married. My oldest is from a previous marriage, but my husband loves and cares for her as his own. Five children in seven years is amazing! These years went by quickly and I thought we worked together well to raise them.

After the birth of our sixth child (as you know if you have been reading my blog), I suffered from severe post partum depression. At this time in my life I went through a really difficult time, and I felt that I had lost myself. My dear husband helped me through this and was there for me, even when I wasn’t there for him. During this time of trial for our marriage, he told me something that truly didn’t sink in until my accident. He said that when I have a new baby, I become consumed by the baby and everything else in my life, including him, becomes non-existent. I hadn’t realized this at all. As he told me this I began to reflect and realized that it was true. I did exclude everyone, even my best friend, him.

After my ankle was broken and I had a lot of time on my hands to think and to ponder, I found that I hadn’t been seeing him. My dearest love. I had been blinded by time, hormones and obligations. I hadn’t been putting him first or his needs before anyones. I took him for granted. I am sorry to say that I did this, but God helped me to see. Through this trial of being crippled I was shown what true love and devotion is about. I hope that I do not take him for granted or exclude him again. I hope that I can be as good a wife as he is a husband.

I could not be a good mother without his love and sacrifice for me. With his unconditional love and faith in me I have been able to have the freedom to be the mother I feel God wants me to be. I hope I will not fail. I also hope I will be able to support him as he has done for me.

Being a woman as a wife is even more important than being a woman as a mother.

Filed under: Journal Entry

I am back, well sort of anyway. I am now completely healed as far as the x-rays show, but walking is a totally different story. Recovery is a difficult part of any accident. Rehabilition is difficult as well. I am having to learn to walk again. Ouch! I am happy that I can get around again however. I am writing again!

I have learned many lessons through the experience of my broken leg. I hope that over the coming months I will be able to put down in writing many of the understandings that I have gained through all of this.

I am sure you can imagine how difficult it would be for a mother of six to all of a sudden lose her ability to care for her children, home and husband. I was frightened at first as to how things would work out. It was a great relief to realize that the world does not have to revolve around me.

As a mother, I always felt that if I were to fail to do everything, that everything would fall apart. I was shown that this feeling was unfounded. My family can function quite well without me. Through the hard work of my husband, children, family, friends and through the blessings of Heavenly Father, everything in my home ran smoothly. In fact, more smoothly than when I am in charge. I have found through this experience that I have been getting in the way of my family’s growth. I have been doing too much and keeping my family out of their own buisness.

I assumed that since I was juggling almost all of the balls that if I dropped one they would all drop, but I now know that my family will help keep the balls up and moving. Isn’t that the way it should be as a family?

As I said previously, I have many experiences I hope to be able to share. I hope that I will be able to write more soon!

Thank you to all who wrote to me with words of encouragement. I greatly appreciate your support.

Filed under: Journal Entry, Mom Notes

If you’d prefer to send greetings to Diana directly, rather than as a comment, I’ve fixed the comment engine.

–Aaron Mildenstein

Filed under: Announcements